OUR BLOGGERS

Laura Rocoski:

“Hi, my name is Laura Rocoski and over the years I have developed a passion for helping people. I have been working in the humanitarian sector for the past 5 years. In the end it all comes back to helping people, I find that when working in this field we have to be cautious with how we approach providing help. I believe that some of the best examples of development formed through multiple conversations with the communities, in order to provide and assist with the necessary resources. The main value that I choose to live by is: breaking down the barriers that we build within society and that we build within ourselves. Once we break down these barriers we have the potential of creating true and sustainable change.”

Kirsten Fenn:

Follow JHR reporter Kirsten Fenn as she recounts her reading week with Carleton’s Alternative Spring Break team. This year, the ASB program sent 17 students and two staff advisers to Cuernavaca, Mexico to work on community service projects in La Estación, a squatter’s village of approximately 5000 families living in poverty. The Carleton team worked alongside students from McMaster and UBC to improve the homes of 4 different families.

Marina von Stackelberg:

Marina von Stackelberg is a fourth-year journalism student at Carleton University, originally from the Northern Ontario city of North Bay. For 2 1/2 months, she is working as an intern in Kigali, Rwanda with the country’s first private television station, TV10.

Marina is a participant in Carleton’s Centre for Media and Transitional Societies (CMTS) internship program. Each year, Carleton sends over 20 journalism and communication students to Africa to intern with various media organizations.

You can read more about her life in Kigali at her blog: marinainrwanda.wordpress.com. You can follow her on twitter @mvstackelberg.

Caitlin (left) and Rebecca (right), in preparation for their journey to Ecuador.

Caitlin Salvino & Rebecca Wong:

Our names are Caitlin Salvino and Rebecca Wong. We’re both Hillcrest High School students who, after attending Toronto We Day (a day-long inspirational event hosted by Me to We) were inspired to form a new club at our school called IMPACT, which is dedicated to social justice and environmental issues.

In September 2011, our club of 8 members began fundraising $8500 to build a school in Ecuador through Free the Children’s Brick by Brick campaign. In 2012, we tried to organize a March break trip with Me to We to have members of IMPACT travel to Ecuador and physically build the school we’d spent the past two years raising money towards. However, due to a combination of things, that trip fell through and it was then that Rebecca and I began to organize going on a youth trip with Me to We this summer, in 2013.

From July 5th-20th, 2013 we visited Ecuador, marking the beginning of our journey to not only helping the community of Shuid, but towards personal growth. It changed how we choose to live our lives.